2013 HR Derby Champion

For reasons that go well beyond this blog, Yoenis Cespedes couldn't be more deserving for his recent accomplishment of winning the 2013 MLB All-Star Game HR Derby.


Our off-season strength & conditioning program had been designed with a few goals in mind:
1) Evaluate & enhance previous strength training and power  
    development to improve transfer from gym to field
2) Enhance on-field performance
3) Reduce the incidence of injury
4) Extra curriculum - ASG, maybe HR Derby, and hopefully post season (better to be prepared than not)

The entire world now knows Yoenis Cespedes. There were some serious sluggers in this years HR Derby. Everyone competing in the HR Derby wanted to win. After all, they are competitors. They want bragging rights and in the process they want to win/raise money for a host of charities. However, we cant ignore how taxing the first half of the season has been on them. Trips to the DL, HBP's, fights, hard slides, etc, etc. Then to go out and swing out of their shoes with such intensity and such power over and over and over again. The amount of trunk stability (core stiffness) necessary, not only for the pre-, in-, and post-season games but also for the multitude and magnitude of swings during HR Derby competitions, should not be overlooked; and needs to be greatly appreciated and embraced. So it goes without saying that they need to be in shape. Being baseball-ready, being in baseball-shapre doesn't happen mid-season and definitely not during spring training. It happens in the off-season; off-season strength & conditioning programs are vital and they better more than a pat on the back. They are vital not so much for unanticipated events such as HR Derby, but vital inorder for you to provide, the end user (the athlete himself, the coaches, the Front Office, etc), the best product  possible for 162 plus games. From a strength & conditioning perspective, baseball players should be in baseball strength and their conditioning should be game-ready when arriving to camp. In other words, out train the the game because In-season performance happens in the off-season.

Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland A's
2013 HR Derby Champion

Out Train the Game...Yoenis does and now Yo knows HR Derby

Adam

Athletically Skilled or Performance Enhanced

Lazy But Talented. Really?  I just can't get behind such a message.

I don't give a crap how talented or skilled you THINK you are or how many of baseball's Five Tools you have.  If lazy is in any way shape or form is part of your DNA (in life or in baseball) then keep walking. I'd rather have an athlete that only possesses 2 or 3 of the Five Tools but understands the value of hard work, to enhance the performance skills/tools that he does have; this athlete is the first in the gym (and on the field) and last to leave. This athlete understands that it's one thing to have skill, it's another to enhance those skills thru proper integrated baseball performance/strength training.  This athlete also has what the "lazy but talented" athlete doesn't have...mental fortitude. This is the mental strength to work hard towards his goals; to work when 'lazy' is sleeping; to work when 'lazy' takes their skill-set for granted; to make grilled chicken for dinner when 'lazy' goes thru the drive-thru for fried chicken. Get the point point - It's easy to be lazy and it's easy to see. Again, it doesn't matter how good you are or how good you think you are, laziness will erode your skills.

Be committed, dedicated and responsible to your talents.

All in all, our motto is OUT TRAIN THE GAME. and leave your Lazy at home

Adam

Functional Baseball Performance Training - FBPT

  The training principles behind Functional Baseball Performance Training (FBPT), are based upon the industry training concept known as Functional Training. Upon reading many strength training journals, attending multitude of training based workshops, the essence of Functional Training can be para-phrased as follows:

Training in a manner that is consistent to the intended activity with regards to planes of motion, ranges of motion, and speed of movements. 

Honestly, the ideas behind Functional Baseball Performance Training arent much different; just simplified.   FBPT consists of:
- Standing, ground based movements...Not sitting or laying down
- Multi-planar movements...not single 
- Integrating multiple muscle groups...not isolating specific muscles

However, because Functional Baseball Performance Training requires the integration of multiple muscle groups to create stabilization from standing positions, FBPT might not be the best approach for adding size (hypertrophy). For example, (traditional) bodybuilding methodologies of slow, isolated training from stable (laying/sitting down) positions  just might be necessary for the baseball player needing a bit more muscle. Now, although bodybuilders look great, I do not advocate an all exclusive use of the bodybuilding approach for improving on-field baseball performance. The ideal training scenario is to create a hybrid program which contains traditional and functional. You have to ask yourself, would you rather train for "all go" or "all show".

Out Train the Game!

Core Stability - an absolute must!

Baseball components such as hitting, throwing, fielding, and running share a common movement: rotation.  Such rotational movement patterns are driven through the musculature of the core/trunk - of which a majority is oriented horizontally or diagonally.  This non-linear orientation of the core’s musculature supports the importance of rotational training for baseball.

The core’s ability to rotate is made possible by the contra-lateral connection between one shoulder to the opposite hip. This connection allows forces to be transferred, in a diagonal pattern between the upper body and the lower body. In turn, this diagonal pattern supports  rotational forces typical in baseball.   

Despite these ‘rotational’ baseball components, a variety of crunches and sit-ups (sagittal plane) continue to take center stage as the abdominal (core/trunk) exercises of choice for baseball players. These exercises are typically performed slow, in a single plane of motion and on the floor with zero to minimal rotation. Baseball consists of short, quick, explosive, multi-directional movements - from standing positions - requiring a rigid, stable core from which to accelerate, decelerate and stabilize forces. If the core is weak and unstable, then maximal forces cannot be expressed; let alone transferred to other parts of the body.  

Think of the body as a chain - a chain comprised of healthy strong links - the upper body, the core, and the hips/legs (lower body). Most players realize the importance of lower body and upper body strength for on-field performance.  However, many fail to realize the importance of proper core training that establishes core stiffness.  The amount of trunk(core) stiffness determines the amount of ground reaction forces that are created, routed into the ground and then re-routed back up thru the core and onto the other “moving parts” (extremities) involved in a particular movement. As an example, the trunk briefly stiffens just prior to the hips rotating thru a batting swing.  It is this stiffness that allows for powerful hip rotation followed by rotation of the trunk leading to a subsequent increase in bat speed. 

Regardless of the rotational component , the sequence for Ground Reaction Forces is as follows:

CORE: genesis of forces – where force is generated. Spinal stabilization/ Core Stiffness is necessary in order to ensure the maximal amount of force can be used. An unstable/weak spine diminishes the amount of forces that can be created

LEGS/HIPS: transmits forces from the core to the ground

GROUND: Force is routed to largest stable mass (ground) via the extremities (legs) thus importance of ground based training. The ground reacts, or gives back exactly what we give it. (Ground Reaction Forces)

LEGS/HIPS: transmits forces back up from the ground to the core

CORE: command center – decides where the forces are to be expressed either out the top (upper extremities) or back down (lower extremities)

To support on-field performance, your off-field baseball training program should incorporate rotational, anti-rotational, anti-flexion, anti-extension, and anti-lateral flexion movement patterns to develop a strong and rigid/stable core to ensure maximal transfer of rotational strength between the upper body and legs/hips.

Out Train the Game!

Rockies add catching depth

Catcher, Yorvit Torrealba has agreed to a minor league deal with Colorado Rockies - joining Five Tool Baseball Performance Training client Ramon Hernandez, C.

Looking forward to 2013 Spring Training.

Out train the game.

Adam

$80,000,000 Tiger

Last Friday, December 15, 2012 was a very rewarding day. It was when Anibal Sanchez, SP, agreed to a 5 year $80 Million contract to remain with the Detroit Tigers. Having been his off-season baseball strength coach for the past 3 off-seasons it was an equally rewarding day for me...maybe not 80 million dollars worth, but it sure was rewarding. You see, prior to teaming up with Five Tool Baseball in 2009, Anibal saw time on and off the Disabled List(DL) for each of his first 4 years in the MLB. Since joining FTB, our plan never wavered; train to keep him on the mound.

You have to be healthy and capable of taking the ball every 5th day to show your worth. For the past 3 years Anibal has been healthy, strong, with zero trips to the Disabled List. As his trainer, that's been my reward...his health. Three years healthy, got him 5 years and a whole lot of money.

He has been the perfect example of gym tested and field proven. Anibal out trains the game!

Buena Suerte Anibal.

Adam

La Potenica

Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland A's OF,  has teamed up with
Five Tool Baseball Performance Training(FTBPT) for his off-season strength training & conditioning program in preparation for the 2013 season.

 Nicknamed "La Potencia" meaning The Power, Yoenis is quickly getting acclimated as to what it truly means to out train the game! with FTBPT.

 Great things are on the horizon for this young man.

Train hard, train smart.


Adam